


Playing for Keeps

by Doxx



Series: It's a Kind of Magic [4]
Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Dancing, Demons, Disabled Character, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Magic Tricks, Physical Disability, Walking Canes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26103472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doxx/pseuds/Doxx
Summary: Eddie spends some time with his favourite greedy demon, and learns a great deal not only about Mammon, but his brothers as well.
Relationships: Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Male Character(s)
Series: It's a Kind of Magic [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880872
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written before the 'Games - Let the games begin' event. It assumes that demons are not familiar with a deck of playing cards.

Eddie was in his room, on his bed shuffling his cards in front of a mirror. 

He only knew a limited number of tricks by heart, and was fast approaching the dangerous stage where he would have to repeat tricks, which always ran the risk of the 'magic' behind them being found out. 

So, as a result he was desperately trying to remember how to stack a deck to force a certain card on a spectator, but could not recall how to shift it into position whilst appearing to mix the rest of the cards. He could have altered the card to make it easier, trimming the edge or curling the corner to be able to find it with a thumbnail, but this was his only deck of cards (perhaps the only deck of playing cards in the whole of the Devildom), and he was loathe to modify them. 

It was always nice to be able to leave a completely ungimmicked card or prop for the audience to see and examine. 

Frustrated, he had decided to remind himself of shuffling strategies instead, and had settled nicely into a routine of riffles and cuts.

He could not make the cards dance like some people, but he could do a decent job, and had control enough that he could trust that the cards would not fly everywhere unintentionally.

He did know a trick where he would send out a spray of cards, leaving only one behind (the one selected by a spectator), but that trick was nightmare to practice on accord of it being a hassle to tidy up after. He hated having to scoop up all the cards from the ground, it quickly exhausted him, and so had given up on that particular trick. 

However, when his door was suddenly swung wide, Eddie very nearly spilled the cards across the floor anyway.

He had told Mammon, once, that he was welcome bedroom any time, which the demon had taken for permission to come and go as he pleased without so much as a knock of warning. 

Any ire that Eddie might have felt at being barged in on melted as soon as he saw Mammon's face.

The Avatar of Greed was grinning so wide his face looked like it might split, as he came and curled in on the foot of Eddie's bed.

“Hey-hey! How's my favourite human?”

Mammon's phrase had become his standard greeting, harking back to a time when Mammon had had referred to Eddie as 'human' only, and always in tones that one might use to describe a piece of crud on a new shoe. Since then, the words had warmed, and it had grown into an in-joke between them.

It was one of the very few times that Eddie did not mind being called a human. He smiled. 

“None too bad, how's my favourite demon?” 

“Though ya'd never ask! I got a new gig tomorrow! Hellfire club just finished a refit, and they want some publicity shots for opening night. Its a pretty sweet deal, and they've given me some guest passes for the grand re-opening. Ya'll come along, right?”

Eddie tipped his head, trying to remember which of the various nightclubs was the Hellfire. With sinking feeling, he recalled too many steps up to the venue, a very thin and trendy banister that he had been scared to put too much weight on, and no space to sit and recover once up there. He'd had to stand, propped up against the bar (which was sticky!) and head home early when he found himself growing too tired to enjoy the company of Mammon and Asmo as they tried to shield him from being nudged and bumped by the surrounding crowd. 

He was about to make his apologies, when Mammon continued, “See, I figured that since the shoot is early on in the evenin', before doors open, we can get us a table and place to sit, all of us! I'll even order us a bottle of something, so ya don't have ta worry about getting back and forth from the bar!”

He must have mentioned once, that he preferred to sit down when on a night out, and then maybe only hinted that trying to carry drinks across a crowded space was likely to result in something spilling. Mammon had been good, helping him out with cups of tea rather than leave Eddie to try and juggle a heavy teapot, but he was pleasantly surprised to find that Mammon had managed to connect that carrying drinks was made more difficult in different situations. 

That Mammon had put such consideration into a night out was rather sweet, and Eddie was genuinely touched at the gesture. 

“Sounds great, I'd be delighted to come!”

There was a fist pump accompanied with an “Oh yeah!”, as Mammon bounced happily on the bed.

“Listen, it's really nice that you thought of ways to make it easier for me. Thanks.”

The demon flushed, and rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact. “Well, the Great Mammon gotta take care of his human, y'know?” 

Then, without missing a beat, he caught sight of the cards in Eddie's hands and shifted to a new topic of conversation.

“Those the cards you used with Lucifer? Lemme see!”

Mammon thrust out a hand for the cards, which was still better than when he used to grab things out of Eddie's hands, and Eddie passed the cards across.

Mammon flicked through the cards rapidly, peering at them curiously. He lifted one to the light, back towards him, and his brows lifted when it did not seem see-through. 

Eddie chuckled, and settled to watch Mammon puzzle over the new objects. 

“Are they magic?”

“Not in themselves, no.”

“Can you tell the future with them like tarot cards?”

“Wait. Tarot cards can actually predict the future?”

Eddie should not have been surprised. He was shared a house with seven demons, and had personally met angels and sorcerers and was on first name terms with the king of the Devildom. He'd seen transformations, and portals, and time travel. Tarot should have seemed perfectly acceptable.

“Sure! I mean, sometimes. Depends on the cards and the questions ya ask them, and who is doin' the reading....” Mammon's voice lowered, “Tends to be a witch-y kinda thing though...”

His brows knitted tight, and his lips drew down into a scowl, and Eddie thought he'd best change the subject. Mammon held other pacts as well as his own, but it seemed some of Mammon's connections took advantage of the seals and its power over the demon.

“These cards are just regular playing cards. You get lots of styles, but the suits and faces usually stay the same.”

Mammon flexed one between his hands, and looked to Eddie. “What're they for then?”

“Games mostly, like Lucifer said.”

Mammon looked intrigued, and Eddie leaned in, “Want to learn how to play?”

Over the coarse of the evening, Mammon learnt how to play poker, and Eddie learnt several things about Mammon.

One was that the demon had a knack for a new task or activity. With only a few demonstrations, he was shuffling the cards as if he'd been doing it for years. He quickly picked up on the rules of poker, and the values of the different hands. He had a good sense for which cards were likely to come up, how likely they were to win, and seemed to be able to keep some of the cards previously played in mind when judging his hand against Eddie's own. Mammon even managed to bluff through his confidence to mislead about the value of his cards.

He started to win, and while he perhaps was not the most gracious of winners (victory laps around the bedroom were generally not considered good sportsmanship), Eddie was impressed.

However, everything changed when Eddie added betting into the equation. The moment there was money to be won, Mammon lost all sense of patience and skill. It seemed a compulsion that he would bet too heavily, or go 'all in' on a fairly poor hand. He seemed determined to make up his losses, and so pressed against his luck till Eddie had scooped up the entire pot. 

They tried bottlecaps and sweets instead of actual grimm, but the result was the same. Mammon would pull out a good hand from time to time and win a couple of tokens, but mostly, Eddie cleaned up. 

The demon could not explain it either, even when asked directly. He shrugged and looked at the pile of tokens, and just sighed. “It's like, I want it all. I gotta have it. Even though we're just playin' for buttons, there's somethin' in me that just … craves...It makes it hard to think straight, to think of anything else but _havin'_ it.”

He had clenched and unclenched his hands then, and turned away. “Sorry. Guess it kindda ruins the game.”

Eddie had shuffled over, till he was sat at Mammon's hip and wrapped an arm over the shoulders of the avatar of greed.

“No worries. Besides, there are lots of other card games without a betting element.”

Mammon gave him a grateful smile, and Eddie had stared a beat too long, and then had to break away, hoping Mammon would over-look his awkwardness. He took up the deck, and falling into the familiar feel of shuffling cards, dealt them out for a new game.

Eddie did not even mind that within the hour, Mammon was trouncing him at Rummy... repeatedly.


	2. Chapter 2

The evening at the new Hellfire Club (which was just like the old one, but with more LEDs strung up under the bartop and around the doors) was immense fun, and Eddie enjoyed getting to spend time with his housemates in a different setting. 

The photoshoot had been a success, with a few retakes but mostly straightforward poses and stances. Eddie had been entranced, watching Mammon move his body this way and that, bending and curling to create interesting angles and hold them for the camera to capture. His expression was changeable, quickly shifting from delight to mysterious, to contemplative and back again. 

Decked in fancy clothes with impractical cuts, Mammon seemed astute in knowing how to position himself to catch the light, or draw attention to the flashy jewellery adorning his fingers and neck.

When the camera was lowered, Eddie saw the shift as Mammon filled his skin again with himself. He grew more animated, like he could hardly stand to stay still a second longer. There was a lightness to his steps as he walked over, grinning without worrying about the tilt of his head or how his hair was styled. His eyes darted, taking in everything about them, and his speech was fast and unfiltered. 

Mammon had been as good as his word, and as the club started to fill, Eddie was safely sat at a table of the other occupants of the House of Lamentation; even Levi who had been pried out from his room to join them.

There was free food and drinks, and so Beel was in his element, slowly becoming more and more expressive as he worked his way through the cocktail selection. To Eddie's surprise, the avatar of gluttony seemed to genuinely appreciate different tastes and could pick out when a hint of spice was used, or a dash of something unusual. Belphegor gave up on trying to sleep through the noise all about them, and took part in the conversation himself. He had a dry wit that Eddie had not appreciated before. Between Belphie and Leviathan's geeky references, Eddie found himself laughing long and loud. Asmo flitted from table to table, flirting merrily, but yet, he always swung by the brothers' table to check in that everyone was having as good a time as him. If any strange demons came too close to Eddie with hunger in their eyes, Satan sent them on their way with a cutting insult, and when that failed, a snarl that made Eddie very grateful he seemed to be on the avatar of Wrath's good side. 

Eventually, Lucifer was convinced to have a drink, and subsequently stopped chiding Mammon and Beelzebub for being so boisterous and loud. He relaxed and laughed, and seemed very different than the stern and strict demon Eddie had come to know. 

It had been an enlightening evening. 

Mammon though, shone. His white hair a beacon, his fingernails flashing bright as he took to the dance floor.

He danced in the crowd like it had been choreographed, his arms moving in sync to those around him, twisting and spinning and graceful. Horns and tails and hooves and wings and extra limbs phased in and out of the flashing lights, swelling with the bass, and Mammon in the middle of it all.

Then, he had extended a hand and invited Eddie up to the dance floor.

Unsteady without his cane, but trusting Mammon's care and strength to keep him upright, Eddie got to his feet.

There was not much space, but Mammon swung out round to allow Eddie room to move. He might not have had much practice at dancing (dancing in a crowd of demons seemed like something that would have featured in his nightmares), but Mammon proved apt at guiding him into where there was a clear area and making sure he was not jostled off-balance.

For each step he took, Mammon took three, his feet skipping to the beat, his arms exaggerating Eddie's shy motions. 

Not once was he entirely comfortable, and dancing would definitely not become a regular pasttime, but Eddie felt he held his own for the duration. He dared not try to emulate Mammon, such wild motions would certainly have carried risk of stumbling, but he did manage to sway forwards and back in time, and when the song ended, happily swept up Mammon in a fierce hug, letting the demon take his weight. 

“Whoo, that was fun! But I don't know how you manage more than a song a night, I am done!”

Mammon did not lend an arm for Eddie to get back to his chair, but did walk side by side with him as they staggered back giddy. He sank down gratefully into a seat, and waved off Mammon's concerned face.

“I'll be fine. Just got to catch my breath again. Go dance!”

Once assured that he had not broken the human, Mammon bounced back to the dancefloor, leaving Eddie to pour himself a drink and let his legs rest. He took a long drink (and made note he ought to get himself something non-alcoholic as well) when he caught Asmo leaning on his elbows with his chin resting on the back of his hands and looking at him.

Asmo was resplendent in a revealing silk shirt, and his wings framed his body as he leaned in close. 

“Oh sweetie, you're falling hard. Take it from a literal fallen angel, best brace for impact!”

Eddie's eyes scanned out to the dance floor, busy and bustling but with Mammon's shock of pale hair easy to spot.

Mammon was safely no-where near enough to hear, and the other brothers seemed engaged in a heated debate about next week's cooking schedule. Eddie lowered his voice, and dipped his head closer to Asmodeus. 

“Not sure what you are talking about.” he said carefully.

Laughter, and a hand on his. “I am the avatar of lust! I know when a person's heart-rate picks up at the thought of another, how the blood pulses hot when they are near. I can smell that you are sweet on him.” he tipped his head, hair falling over an eye in gentle waves, “And that was even before he asked you to dance.”

Eddie raised a brow, not yet ready to admit aloud that Asmo was entirely accurate. “Is this where you warn me against hurting Mammon or you'll string me up by my ankles?”

Asmo's eyes glinted, something dark and wicked in their depths, “Honey, if you hurt my brother, there would not be enough pieces left to be recognisable, let alone hang up as a warning to others....” then, like a switch had been flicked, he smiled, charming and bright, “But I'll leave the threats to Satan. He tends to be happy to be more hands on in his approach, and I have just had my nails done. No, I merely wanted to mention that maybe you might want to make a move. Mortals do not have the luxury of time that we demons do, and I think you would be good for him. You could make him happy.” 

Asmo looked across to where Mammon was dancing, and smiled, “And he deserves to be happy.”

Eddie had never heard Asmo talk at length in such a manner, and never in as serious a tone. His conversations seemed mostly about beauty regimens, or the latest trends, or other topics without consequence. He threw the demon a questioning look, reassessing what he knew of him.

Eddie was met with more laughter, damned near musical. Asmo moved closer, and met his eyes. 

“You are surprised at me. Did you assume I was nothing but a vapid and vain idiot?”

He felt his cheeks heat, as Eddie realised that was exactly how he had seen Asmo, and not bothered to look deeper. He of all people, ought to have known better than to judge on first appearances. He opened his mouth to start on an apology, when Asmo flicked a hand to silence him.

“Hush hush, think nothing of it. I _am_ vain, but rightly so. Have you ever seen one as stunning as I?” He brought his fingers in front of his mouth in mirth, and dipped his voice so that Eddie had to fight to hear him, “But when taken at face value, there is scope for surprise. And that is always valuable, especially here. Demons seek out weakness, and if they think they know you, you'll need a trick or two up your sleeve...”

Eddie caught the word 'trick' and froze. Fear welled up in his throat that he had been found out, that Asmo had managed to see through his basic magic tricks. That there must be some great and terrible punishment for misleading demon lords.

He was drawn out of his panic by a tap at his arm, and Asmo smiling at him. “Relax! Worrying too much will give you wrinkles!”

Forcing himself to calm, Eddie took another drink, and then thought back on Asmo's words. Weakness.... demons sought out weakness....

He looked down at his right leg, already feeling tighter than usual due to exertion. He'd feel it in his walking tomorrow, heavy and slow. He frowned, and tucked it out of view. 

Asmo followed his shift of posture, and shook his head. “Your weakness is not your leg Eddie. The weakness is anyone assuming that that is all there is to you.” He gave Eddie a conspiratorial wink, “Use _that_ to your advantage.”

“And tell Mammon how you feel, sooner rather than later. You are both giving me grey hairs watching you faff about each other with no-one actually doing anything!”

With that, and with a final squeeze of his arm to quietly indicate approval, Asmo waltzed off, leaving Eddie to stare after the avatar of lust in wonder. 

It had been, most certainly, an enlightening evening.


	3. Chapter 3

The next evening, and Eddie was not in a mood to practice magic tricks. 

His head was full of a certain white-haired demon, and what he was to do about the situation. He liked Mammon, more than liked him, but had no idea if Mammon felt the same way, or was even attracted to humans, let along another guy, and did demons even date or did they devour their mates like mantises and soon Eddie had managed to overthink himself into knots. 

Since he had made no significant headway (other than make a resolution to grill Asmo and Satan about demonic dating habits at the next opportunity) Eddie had decided to try and forget about it for the evening, and get some coursework done. 

Of course, that's when Mammon came in, all a rush.

“Eddie! Eddie I've figured it out!”

“Hey Mammon... What ---”

Mammon circled round fast, and pointed to Eddie's cane, carefully placed against the bed so it would not fall over.

“Ya carry it everywhere, but ya can walk without it, and dance too. _And_ ya don't like folks touchin' it. It's your magic wand!”

Eddie blinked, and then had to try and stop himself from laughing. Mammon looked so damned pleased with himself, and Eddie supposed it did make a sort of sense that if magic artefacts actually existed, Eddie might be in possession of a wand. However, his cane was a cheap aluminium model, with notches to adjust the height and a worn plastic handle. It had a rubber cap at the bottom that probably needed replaced sometime soon, and scuff marks all down its length from where people (Eddie included) had kicked a shoe against it. 

It was the most mundane walking cane, chosen because it was the lightest model they had had in the shop at the time that fit within his limited budget. 

“Sorry Mammon, it's just a walking cane. It helps me save my energy, so that I _can_ sometimes stand or walk or dance without it. And on a bad day when I am tired, it helps me keep better balance. Other than that, it's completely ordinary.” Eddie paused, and smiled, “and I don't normally like folks messing about with it, but for you I'll make special allowance.”

Eddie reached and picked it up and held it out for Mammon to take. 

Mammon looked wary, but dutifully took up the cane as if it were a priceless treasure. He seemed surprised that it did not curse him to touch, and he peered at the stick in his hands. With a painted white fingernail, he tapped against metal, and found it hollow (lightweight models often were) and raised a brow to Eddie. 

“What's inside?”

“Nothing, I promise!”

Mammon looked disappointed and handed the cane back, inviting himself to sit on the bed besides Eddie. 

“I thought that maybe I had ya figured out...” he sighed, “Still can't get my head round ya being able to cast without so much as a hint of mystic energy being harnessed or spent... Ya ain't some demi-god are ya?”

With a chuckle, Eddie shook his head. “Not that I know of!”

“Then I give up. I'm never gonna figure out out ya read Lucifer's mind that day. Ya know, with the card?”

Eddie toyed with the idea of showing Mammon how the trick was done, but that would mean telling Mammon that all Eddie's so-called magic was fake. He had no way to know how Mammon might take such news, and he selfishly rather liked that Mammon thought he worthy of spending so much time with. 

Instead, and remembering Asmo's words of advice to him, he leaned in towards Mammon.

“Lucifer's head is probably full of Diavolo and paperwork and rules. Maybe you might like to try looking into my thoughts instead? Go on... what do you see?”

Mammon frowned, confused, and was about to take a wild guess when Eddie interrupted him.

“Can you see how much I want to kiss you?”

Mammon's mouth opened into a shocked 'o', and his cheeks grew rosy. 

“I... uh... Wh...” he flustered, unable to form words. Eddie took a breath, and took a chance, and closed the distance between them to place a brief kiss on Mammon's cheek. He drew back, the heat of the skin lingering on his lips, warmed through from blushing.

The demon looked up, scarlet blazing across his face. He reached out and cupped a hand round Eddie's shoulder, so that he could not retreat further. Eddie was suddenly nervous that he had caused Mammon to be upset.

Eyes that were the colour of sunset on the ocean met his, and stared. He gave Eddie a shy smile, his cheeks still blushing. 

“I... I wanna do that again.”

With a nod, Eddie let himself be pulled so close they were sharing breath. 

“You read my mind!” he whispered.


End file.
